This and That

Apparently Billy Wagner’s pitching program is never to pitch. The deal to bring him here was struck Tuesday, when he left the Mets in Florida, spent two days at home in Virginia, arrived in Boston, and then threw a side session, which meant he couldn’t pitch in a game the next day. So, here it is Saturday morning and he hasn’t appeared in a game yet.

When all the dust settled at the trading deadline, Terry Francona may have lost a long reliever, but he was given a bench. And he has used that bench to maximum effectiveness, with an uncanny knack of knowing who to put into what situation. On Friday night, it was Jason Varitek’s turn to start, and the captain made one of the key plays of the game, blocking the plate and preserving the tie just seconds before the tarp came out and the rain delay started. Then, when play resumed, Francona sent Casey Kotchman up as a pinch hitter and Kotchman’s ground ball led to the lead run scoring.

This was the second time in a week that one of the manager’s moves led directly to a win. He had Victor Martinez pinch hit in the eighth inning of that game against the White Sox and Martinez drove home the tying run with a single. The next inning Martinez’s double drove home the winning run.

And having that good bench allowed Francona to insert Nick Green as a pinch runner for Varitek in that game just before Martinez came in as a pinch hitter for Alex Gonzalez. Then Green plays short and Martinez catches. A month ago, that scenario could not have happened.

Nick Green looked pretty good as a pitcher. I wonder if they’ll press their luck and try it again. Or maybe Rocco Baldelli will get a chance.

John Smoltz is looking good in St. Louis. After striking out 10 last Sunday, he gave up one run on four hits striking out six in six innings against the Washington Nationals. Remember that the two wins have come against San Diego and Washington, who are a combined 67 games under .500. You just don’t get back-to-back starts against teams like that in the American League. But still, if Smoltz and Brad Penny (in New York or wherever he ends up) turn it around for the rest of the season, you have to wonder about John Farrell as a pitching coach.

The Angels are looking for playoff pitching and traded three prospects to Tampa Bay for Scott Kazmir. The perception is that Kazmir always does well against the Sox, but he is only 8-7 lifetime, going 6-3 2004 through 2006 and 2-5 since then. With the arrival of Jeff Niemann and David Price, the Rays felt they were set for starting pitching for a while.

It’s been a pretty disappointing time for the Red Sox New England-based minor league teams. Pawtucket had a 10-game losing streak recently and is 19 games under .500. Meanwhile Portland is six games below .500. The one bright spot has been Lowell. The Spinners are leading their division and will be in the New York-Penn League playoffs.

The Law of Averages

For the last couple of years, we’ve been hearing about how we are paying way above average money for a certain “average” ballplayer holding down right field for the Red Sox. That got me to thinking about what makes up an “average” major league ballplayer.

I went to Baseball-Reference.com for the answer because they have the answer to everything to do with baseball. Did you know that through the games of August 24, there have been 127,276 at bats, 33,425 hits, 3,922 home runs (most of them hit at Magnificent New Yankee Stadium) and 16,489 runs batted in throughout the major leagues?

So, how does this all shake out in terms of “average?”

Well, the Web site says that the average for 600 at bats, roughly equivalent to a full season for a player who stays healthy, is a .263 batting average, 16 home runs and 68 RBIs. We’re about three-quarters of the way through the season, so Mr. Average should be around .263/12 HR/51 RBI at this point.

Is there anybody who matches up to those numbers? Not exactly, but there is somebody who comes really close, and his name does happen to be Drew. But it’s not J.D., it’s his brother Stephen, shortstop for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Stephen Drew is batting .264 with 11 home runs and 53 runs batted in. Nobody else is as close to average as Stephen Drew.

J.D. is not too far off, though. He’s hitting .260 at this point with 16 homers and 50 RBIs, the only Red Sox player even close to average in all three categories.

Others who are close to being an average ballplayer seem to be congregated on the coasts. Starting in the West, Bengie, one of the Flying Molina Brothers, is .261/15 HR/64 RBI for the Giants. His teammate, Aaron Rowand, is hitting .278 with 12 home runs and 53 RBIs. Rowand is the cousin of the Rays’ James Shields. I’ve been waiting all year for the right place to fit that in.

There are some players who fit the “average” category in home runs and runs batted in, even with lower-than-average batting averages. The Rays’ Pat Burrell has 12 homers and 50 RBIs, but is hitting only .210, a below average year for him. Toronto catcher Rod Barajas also has 12 home runs, but with 52 RBIs and a .241 average. With their $2 million payroll the Yankees even have an average ballplayer, Melky Cabrera (.267/11 HR/48 RBI).

Now you’d think that these average ballplayers would all be earning around the major league average of $3.26 million dollars a year. Not so. Of course, J.D. Drew leads the pack with a $15 million a year salary. Rowand follows him at $9.6 million, Burrell making $7 million and Molina at $6.5 million. All veterans who have advanced beyond arbitration. Stephen Drew and Melky Cabrera, the younger players, are at $1.5 million and $1.4 million respectively. Yup, the Yankee is the lowest paid player on the list!!!

The Law of Averages

For the last couple of years, we’ve been hearing about how we are paying way above average money for a certain “average” ballplayer holding down right field for the Red Sox. That got me to thinking about what makes up an “average” major league ballplayer.

I went to Baseball-Reference.com for the answer because they have the answer to everything to do with baseball. Did you know that through the games of August 24, there have been 127,276 at bats, 33,425 hits, 3,922 home runs (most of them hit at Magnificent New Yankee Stadium) and 16,489 runs batted in throughout the major leagues?

So, how does this all shake out in terms of “average?”

Well, the Web site says that the average for 600 at bats, roughly equivalent to a full season for a player who stays healthy, is a .263 batting average, 16 home runs and 68 RBIs. We’re about three-quarters of the way through the season, so Mr. Average should be around .263/12 HR/51 RBI at this point.

Is there anybody who matches up to those numbers? Not exactly, but there is somebody who comes really close, and his name does happen to be Drew. But it’s not J.D., it’s his brother Stephen, shortstop for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Stephen Drew is batting .264 with 11 home runs and 53 runs batted in. Nobody else is as close to average as Stephen Drew.

J.D. is not too far off, though. He’s hitting .260 at this point with 16 homers and 50 RBIs, the only Red Sox player even close to average in all three categories.

Others who are close to being an average ballplayer seem to be congregated on the coasts. Starting in the West, Bengie, one of the Flying Molina Brothers, is .261/15 HR/64 RBI for the Giants. His teammate, Aaron Rowand, is hitting .278 with 12 home runs and 53 RBIs. Rowand is the cousin of the Rays’ James Shields. I’ve been waiting all year for the right place to fit that in.

There are some players who fit the “average” category in home runs and runs batted in, even with lower-than-average batting averages. The Rays’ Pat Burrell has 12 homers and 50 RBIs, but is hitting only .210, a below average year for him. Toronto catcher Rod Barajas also has 12 home runs, but with 52 RBIs and a .241 average. With their $2 million payroll the Yankees even have an average ballplayer, Melky Cabrera (.267/11 HR/48 RBI).

Now you’d think that these average ballplayers would all be earning around the major league average of $3.26 million dollars a year. Not so. Of course, J.D. Drew leads the pack with a $15 million a year salary. Rowand follows him at $9.6 million, Burrell making $7 million and Molina at $6.5 million. All veterans who have advanced beyond arbitration. Stephen Drew and Melky Cabrera, the younger players, are at $1.5 million and $1.4 million respectively. Yup, the Yankee is the lowest paid player on the list!!!

Brain Drain

In which we turn on the tap and empty the mind of all those random thoughts that have been floating around in there for a while.

One thing that was proven last weekend: The Yankees are the best team in baseball and should win the World Series (I hope by saying that I jinxed them). The $200 million they spent last winter is paying off. They can score runs at will. Their pitching is good and most of their older players have not become liabilities unlike some other team. We can only hope that after paying some sign maker to change all those 26s to 27s they will save money by staying out of next year’s free agent market. What do they need, anyway?

By the way, the same thing happened the last time the Yankees moved into a new ballpark. In 1975 the Yankees played in Shea Stadium while Yankee Stadium was being renovated and finished third. Moving back to the new old Yankee Stadium in 1976 the won the AL East. It didn’t hurt that some smart trades over the winter brought them Mickey Rivers, Willie Randolph, Oscar Gamble, Ed Figueroa and Dock Ellis.

Since today is the first day of school in Leicester, Massachusetts, here is a pop quiz in math.
(1) A train leaves Denver heading east at 12 noon. A plane leaves Toledo heading west at 9:30 AM. When will they meet?
(2) a) From June 6 to August 23, a total of 67 games, a baseball player had hit 19 home runs and knocked in 45 runs. If he had the same rate of home runs and RBIs over 162 games, what would his stats be? b) Who is the baseball player in question? (answers below)

John Smoltz, Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, Bronson Arroyo and Justin Masterson all got wins in the past week. Brad Penny did not.

Speaking of Smoltz, the evidence this season is that he, like many others, is a creation of the National League game, where the lineups are less deep and easier to get through. His fellow Cardinal Joel Piniero is the same. In the National League, the worst regular hitter bats eighth and a worthless hitter bats ninth. So the pitcher is basically looking at a seven player lineup to get through. In the American League, the worst hitter bats ninth so the pitcher has to work a lot harder. Plus, in the National League the chances are greater that the lineup will turn over at the start of an inning with nobody on base. In the American League, those #8 and #9 hitters tend to get on base, prolong an inning and let the top of the order hit with runners on.

The Orioles are having a tough season, but they are doing the right thing by bringing up all those rookie pitchers and letting them learn at the major league level. It’s the same thing the Tigers did in 2003, when they lost 119 games. They brought a bunch of young pitchers like Jeremy Bonderman and Mike Maroth who took their licks but came back the next year as polished major leaguers. The Orioles youngsters like Brad Bergeson and Jason Berken are getting the chance to pitch. Bergeson is even having a good year, 7-5 3.43 ERA for a bad team. Baltimore is like the Rays were a few years back. They have the hitters, but they need the pitching. The pitching staff is developing right before their eyes. Look out for the Orioles next season.

If there is one team that is more disappointing than the Red Sox this season it’s the New York Mets. Racked by injuries to key players like Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes and setup guy J.J. Putz, the Mets fell behind fast in the National League East and lost their last game on an unassisted triple play in the ninth inning. Now Gary Sheffield, who was given a home in New York last spring when Detroit released him, has decided that he wants the Mets to release him so he can play for a contender the rest of the season. What a class act.

Quiz answers
(1) They will never meet as the train is on the ground and the plane is in the air. Read the questions carefully!
(2) a) 45 home runs and 130 RBIs. b) David Ortiz

Bad game...bad game

You knew it was going to be a disaster when they announced the lineups.

“Pitching for Boston, Number 36, Brad Penny.”

It got worse when Derek Jeter immediately lined a double down the right field line. When is some team going to come up with a Jeter shift and move every fielder down the right field line when he comes up?

For what seems like the ninth time in a row, Brad Penny had nothing. His pitching pattern consists of throwing fastball after fastball, and then turning around to see how far the batter hit it. As RemDawg pointed out (great to have him back) he can’t get whatever his other pitches are over the plate so he doesn’t throw them. It’s just fastballs and they are getting hit hard.

What does John Farrell say when he trudges to the mound every inning? Why does he not say “throw your breaking ball” or something like that? Do coaches have any power any more? It took three-quarters of the season to get Jonathan Papelbon to move his set position back to his belt. But, I digress.

The second inning was no better than the first, as Penny let a one-run deficit become a five-run deficit, which then became an 11-run deficit by the time Michael Bowden’s fifth-inning meltdown ended.

Then the Sox started their comeback, and ended up using Sergio Mitre for a little batting practice, but it’s sort of impossible to come back when the other team keeps scoring runs as well. In all, the former “best bullpen in baseball” gave up 12 runs on 13 hits in five innings. Now, Theo is going back to the baseball scrap heap and trying to bring Billy Wagner in on a waiver deal. Wagner is just coming back from Tommy John surgery. All our pitchers are coming back from something.

Positives? Well, Jacoby Ellsbury tied the club record with his 54^th stolen base and Rocco Baldelli came off the DL.

Today, Takashi Saito pitches against A.J. Burnett, in another situation where we send a retread or a rookie against one of the top pitchers in baseball. This year has gone off the track quickly and in spite of the sweep against the Blue Jays, it doesn’t look like it’s coming back.

Penny’s comment after the game was “I feel good. I’m healthy.” Well, I’m healthy, too, but I can’t pitch in the majors either.

Good game…good game

It’s been a while since I’ve said this, but last night’s 6-1 win against the Blue Jays really was a good game. With the fast-moving Roy Halladay and the s…l…o…w pitching Clay Buchholz pitching you’d figure they would balance each other out into a 3-hour game and it came in at 2:57. Buccholz pitched the best game he has thrown since the no-hitter almost two years ago. A couple of times he got in trouble, especially that bases-loaded jam in the sixth, but managed to get out of it, and he actually pitched six full innings, meaning the Sox only had to use three relievers. (The Jays, on the other hand, got three innings in relief from Josh Roenicke, son of Gary, nephew of Ron). The relievers were back on track with the trio of Ramirez, Okajima and Saito throwing three innings of scoreless, no-hit baseball striking out six.

And while the pitchers were pitching, the hitters were hitting, against one of the game’s best. Halladay was out after five, having given up home runs to David Ortiz and Jason Bay. It’s nice to finally get a good pitcher on a bad night, instead of the way it has been going, getting a bad pitcher on a good night. With 10 hits, including four extra-base hits, it was a game when the offense was what we expected it to be, and not what it has become.

So, the Sox have at least won this series, and a win tonight will put a positive spin on things as the team comes home for the long homestand.

The Manager

It isn’t easy to be a baseball manager. They have to win even though they have no direct influence on whether a game is won or lost. One home run and the manager is a genius. One bad pitch and the manager is a bum. They have to deal with players who think they are in charge, reporters who make their living by being critical, and stupid bloggers like me who think they know best.

Once upon a time, managers were basically drinking buddies of the owner, guys like Mike (Pinky) Higgins of the Red Sox and Jimmy Dugan of the Rockford Peaches. Higgins could drink Tom Yawkey under the table, which is how he kept his job managing some of the worst Red Sox teams in history during the 1950s and 1960s. Once, in 1959, he was fired and replaced by Billy Jurges. But Yawkey found out that Jurges couldn’t drink as much as Higgins and Higgins was back in mid-1960. He was so good at drinking, in fact, that he was promoted to general manager.

By the mid ’60s, the model manager was the young leader-type. He was in charge and let everybody know it. If a player was out of line, the manager set him straight. Ralph Houk, an army major in World War II, brought his leadership skills to the Yankees. Earl Weaver and the Sox went out and got Dick Williams, leaving Tom Yawkey to take one for the team and drink alone. The Impossible Dream Red Sox went from ninth place to first and could have won the 1967 World Series if there was one day of rain between games six and seven. Meanwhile the Orioles got into the act and brought in tough-guy Hank Bauer and Earl Weaver for a 19-year run of success that saw the O’s finish first or second 13 times.

Then the model changed again. Warm and fuzzy is in. Managers have become the players’ friends, defending any mistakes and making sure that they get days off every now and again (except for Derek Jeter, Justin Morneau and Ichiro, who play every day). Even Lou Pinella has toned down his act.

But whatever the current model is, the manager is only as good as the team on the field. Casey Stengel with the Yankees was a genius when he managed Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. Casey Stengel with the Mets was the village idiot when he managed Marv Thronberry and Rod Kanehl. Dick Williams went from genius to idiot so many times that he managed six different teams and he was fired from all of them. But he won four pennants and two World Series titles and ended up in the Hall of Fame. Terry Francona in 2004 and 2007? Genius. Terry Francona in 2006 and 2008? Idiot. Same guy, same personality, same way of treating players. But having Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez on your pitching staff makes you a genius. Having Brad Penny or Jason Johnson on your pitching staff makes you look like an idiot.

Of course, if you’re Grady Little, you could have Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson on your team and you’d still be an idiot.

I've Got My Mind Set On 2010

Since June 24, the Red Sox have lost 12 ½ games in the standings to the Yankees (5 ahead to 7 ½ back). In that time the Sox are 22-23 (.488) and New York is 35-11 (.761). This turnabout would be remarkable except that it seems to happen every year. The .761 winning percentage would project to a 124-38 full season.

Stolen base. Stolen base. Stolen base. Stolen base. Stolen base. Stolen base. Stolen base. Stolen base.

Wouldn’t be so bad once in a while, but it seems to happen all the time. You expect runners like Carl Crawford to steal a bunch of bases against the Sox (Stolen base. Stolen base. Stolen base. Stolen base. Stolen base. Stolen base.), but players who have three stolen bases all year are doing it against Boston.

The Sox have used five shortstops this season (Green, Lugo, Lowrie, Woodward, Gonzalez).

It would be nice to say “OK, this is the problem,” and be able to fix it. Unfortunately, everything is a problem at this point. The general manager screwed up badly this off-season by signing players who can’t play. The manager still insists on resting somebody every day and never seems to have his best nine hitters in the lineup (best being a relative term with so many .250 and below hitters on the roster). The starting pitchers (with one exception) can’t throw more than 5 1/3 innings. The overworked bullpen can’t throw clean innings any more. There is no power and no speed (with one exception) in the lineup, and with a bunch of .250 and below hitters they can’t string together enough hits to cerate a big inning. The catchers can’t throw anybody out on the bases, thereby removing double play opportunities. The defense, which had been one of the best in the league, is now in the middle of the pack.

Is this fixable? Well, since just before the trade deadline, Theo Epstein has been moving players in and out on a daily basis and the situation just gets worse. So, I think we have to conclude the answer is “no.” There is too much deadwood, too many multi-year contracts to players who can no longer play, too many fringe players thrust into key situations (Tazawa against the Yankees, for example). It may take a couple of years to get out from under the big contracts to people who have turned to stone right before our eyes. Until then, keep buying those tickets and trinkets, because it’s not gonna to take just time, a whole lotta precious time, it's gonna take money, a whole lotta spending money, it's gonna take plenty of money to do it right.

The First Closer

Way back then there were no closers, only starters and relievers.

The starter started the game and pitched until he got into a jam. Then a reliever or two came in to end the game. Nobody got a save. The statistic didn’t exist.

In 1962, the Red Sox usual starters were Bill Monbouquette, Earl Wilson, Don Schwall and Gene Conley, not exactly a formidable lot. Monbouquette was the Sox ace, at age 25 just coming into his own. Wilson, 27, achieved his greatest success six years later as a 20-game winner for the World Champion Tigers. The relievers, the guys who weren’t good enough to be starters, were pitchers like Arnold Earley, Chet Nichols and Mike Fornieles, who was an all-star the previous year because they had to take somebody from the Red Sox.

One of the rookie relievers on this eighth-place ballclub was Dick Radatz. At 6-5, 245 with a fastball that probably averaged high-90s (no radar guns then), he quickly was nicknamed The Monster.

There aren’t a lot of revolutionary moments in baseball, but 1962 was one of those moments. The new thinking said that you should have at least one good reliever to use when you really needed some outs, say at the end of the game. The Dodgers were using Ron Perranoski in that role, the Yankees had Luis Arroyo and Elroy Face was the ace reliever in Pittsburgh. Radatz was given that role for the Red Sox.

The Sox got Radatz his first action on opening day. He pitched the ninth of a 4-0 loss to the Indians and struck out Ty Cline, the first batter he faced. And while the other relievers would come in whenever needed, Radatz would usually be saved for the end of the game. During April he made seven appearances, all at the end of the game, had a win and three of what would later be called saves. In 7.2 innings he struck out 13. The pattern continued through the year, mostly end-of-game work when the team was ahead, mostly one or two innings of work.

Except for that one time. It was a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. The lowly Sox had beaten the mighty Yankees 9-3 in the first game and had a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning of the second game when Radatz was brought in. With two out he gave up a walk and two singles to tie the game. Today, that would be it for the pitcher, but Radatz pitched on. He had a 1-2-3 eighth, and survived in the ninth when Tony Kubek tried to score from second on a single. Radatz pitched on, throwing a 1-2-3 10^th and getting a double-play ball to get out of the 11^th. Through the 11^th and 12^th Radatz pitched on, retiring all six Yankees. He gave up a hit in the 13^th and another in the 14^th, but pitched on. In the 15^th, his ninth inning of work, the equivalent of a complete game, he got three fly ball outs.

In the top of the 16^th, with a runner at third and one out Radatz left the game, removed for pinch hitter Billy Gardner, who singled home Bob Tillman with the lead run. Radatz got the win.

Radatz ended the year 9-6, 2.24 with 24 of those things that would in the future be called saves. IN fact, he won or saved 33 of the Sox 76 wins that year. Along the way he picked up his signature move: When he ended a game with a win he would throw his arms high up in the air, which for him was very high.

It only got better the next season, when his role was established as the pitcher that came in late in the game to preserve a win. He was called the closer. By that time, The Sporting News, then known as “The Bible of Baseball,” had started tracking saves, although MLB would not officially until 1969. But in 1962, The Monster had a monster year, going 15-6, 1.97 with 25 saves. He had a win or save in 40 of Boston’s 76 wins! In 1963 it was 45 of 72 as Radatz pitched 157 innings and struck out 181.

But in 1965, the decline began. Pitching for a horrible Sox team (62-100) Radatz threw only 124 innings and struck out 121, the first time in his career that his strikeouts were less than his innings pitched. In four seasons he had thrown 537 innings, mostly fastballs.

In 1966, the fastball was gone. All those innings and all those pitches sucked the life out of his arm. Radatz was giving up runs like never before, and his ERA was over 5. At the end of May he was traded to the Indians for Don McMahan and Lee Stange, both of whom would be key players on the next season’s Impossible Dream team. The Monster held on for a few more years, pitching for the Indians, Cubs, Tigers and Expos, but was released in August 1969, going 3-9 with only 18 saves after leaving Boston.

Dick Radatz was around for just a short time, but had a great impact. The Sox have never been without a closer since, with pitchers like John Wyatt, Sparky Lyle, Bill Campbell, Jeff Reardon, Heathcliffe Slocomb and Ugi Urbina leading up to Keith Foulke and Jonathan Papelbon. Even starters like Bill Lee, Bob Stanley, Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield served in the closers role. And they can all trace their lineage back to the guy that invented the position, Dick Radatz.

Lost (and lost and lost and lost) Weekend

You could have looked at the schedule last spring and seen this one coming. It’s happened before, more than once. Find an August or September four-game series against the Yankees and you’ll know when the Red Sox will be packing it in.

September 7-10, 1978: Boston is up four games, loses four straight to end the series in a tie. The Sox then lose two-of-three in New York the next weekend plus the playoff game. That’s one win in eight tries down the stretch. Just one more win there would have made the playoff game unnecessary.

August 18-21, 2006: The four-game series becomes a five-gamer due to a rainout. Sox lose all five and go from a manageable 2½ games back to 7½ behind. Boston plays out the string 17-24 and finishes third.

August 6-9, 2009: Recap unnecessary.

The teams have switched personalities, roles and results since last April and May.

Then: Behind 6-0? No problem! Varitek will homer to bring us close, Bay will tie it in the ninth (I think that was the last home run he hit), Youk will win it in the 11^th.

Now: Can we at least get a run here?

Then: The Yankees relief pitchers will all be in Scranton next week and they’ll try a new batch until they get it right.

Now: The Sox are bringing up a new pitcher from Pawtucket every day. Hello, Billy Traber. Goodbye, Billy Traber. Hello, Enrique Gonzalez. Goodbye, Enrique Gonzales. Hello, Fernando Cabrera. Who’s next?

Then: So what if they have Mark Teixeira, he’s only hitting .195. We have Jason Bay.

Now: In the last month Jason Bay is hitting .203.

Then: We have too many pitchers. Maybe we should trade one or two of them.

Now: Hello, Billy Traber. Goodbye, Billy Traber. Hello, Enrique Gonzalez. Goodbye, Enrique Gonzales. Hello, Fernando Cabrera.

The seeds of this weekend’s debacle were sown last winter, when Theo Epstein decided to shop in the dead pitchers department of K-Mart and came away with Brad Penny and John Smoltz. Meanwhile Brian Cashman was taking the elevator to the aces department at Bloomingdale’s to shop for CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, each of whom threw zeros at the Sox.

You get what you pay for.

So where do we go from here? Well, for the short term, on into the rest of the season, we can hope the lethargic team can put this weekend behind them and show some life for the last seven weeks of the season. Theo is out trying to plug some more of the leaks. Paul Byrd is waiting in the wings (think about that one). What, Brian Rose wasn’t available? And he put in a waiver claim on Washington’s Cristian Guuuuuuzman to play shortstop. I guess Tim Naehring didn’t want to come out of retirement.

And we can only hope that Theo has learned his lesson and will at least shop at Target when the hot stoves are lit next winter, because you know that Brian Cashman will be back at Bloomingdale’s.

Quick Hits

Too tired for a coherent post, so here are some random thoughts.

In extra innings, the Sox used six pitchers, the Yankees three. Why is nobody in the Boston bullpen capable of multiple innings (like two or three innings)?

Jonathan Papelbon: 1 1/3 innings, four outs, 16 pitches. The key: he has gone back to his old, effective style of going to the stretch at his belt instead of at his chest. How come it took 2/3 of the season to make the change?

When you play 15 innings and have four hits you usually do not win. The hits were in the first, ninth, tenth and fourteenth innings.

Do you think pitching in Yankee Stadium – excuse me, Magnificent Yankee Stadium – is different from pitching in the Japanese Industrial League?

Boston’s six-through-nine hitters were a combined 0/21. The one-through-five hitters were not much better, a combined 4/25.

The Boston “offense” consisted of Jacoby Ellsbury’s two hits and a stolen base.

For the second time in three games the Sox used their entire bullpen.

In a positive note, the Sox held baseball’s best offense to two runs.

Josh Beckett did his part.

During one of the 30 commercial breaks, I switched over to MLB Network just in time to hear analyst Joe Magrane say that up until a month ago he thought that the Red Sox had the best team in baseball. Now he thinks that the Yankees, Rays, Angels, Phillies and Dodgers are better. He probably could have included the Rangers in that mix.

Speaking of those 30 commercial breaks, I’ve had those Wendy’s boneless hunks of chicken in sauce. About as good as the Sox offense.

Since the All-Star break, the Sox are 3-11 against teams not named the Baltimore Orioles.

Justin Masterson is starting for Cleveland today against the White Sox.

The Red Sox have churned 25% of their roster in the last two days. What does that tell you?

Remember When

Remember when the Red Sox had a five-game lead in the division?

They have lost 7½ games in the standings since then.

Remember when the Sox could beat the (Devil) Rays just by showing up?

They are 4-7 this season, 3-4 in the ALCS, 8-10 last season = 15-23, including 4-15 at Tropicana Field.

Remember when the Sox were so deep in pitching we were thinking about trading a couple of starters?

The Sox have announced that they have signed Paul Byrd to a minor-league contract.

Remember when the Sox bullpen was so good that having a lead in the seventh inning was a sure win?

The Sox have called up Billy Traber to be a member of the bullpen.

Remember when we had so much depth that one of our best starters, Clay Buccholz, couldn’t crack the rotation and we couldn’t wait for him to get here?

Clay is 1-1, 6.09 ERA, 28 hits in 19 innings.

Remember when the Sox could out-homer the other team?

Rays hit six home runs in the two-game series, matching their total for stolen bases.

Remember when J.D. Drew’s hamstrings were the problem?

Jason Bay hurt his hamstring and left the Wednesday game in the 8^th inning.

Remember when Sox players played through injuries?

Why can’t we have a whole team of Mike Lowells, who drags his injured hip out there every day?

Remember when the Sox went into an August series against the Yankees, only 3½ back and lost all five?

August 18-21, 2006.

Remember when the Sox were contenders?

This and That

So, the fun of beating up on Baltimore is over, and the grind to the finish has begun with a disheartening loss to the Rays. Jon Lester pitched well, striking out 10 and leaving with the lead but ending up with a no-decision. As usual, the Red Sox had no clue what to do with Matt Garza, and the 2-0 lead they had was the result of two home runs. Meanwhile, Daniel Bard had his first meltdown, giving up the home run that tied the game. After that, the bullpen pitched well, getting out of jams in the eighth and tenth innings.

Isn’t this the way it always works? A team scores 18 runs on 23 hits in one game and can’t buy a hit in the next game. We know that Tampa Bay has better pitching than Baltimore, but to go from 23 hits to seven hits (playing four more innings) is an amazing statistic. In the 10 games leading up to last night, the Sox scored 77 runs, which just points out the value of the good overall pitching staff the Rays have assembled. Those games were against Baltimore and Oakland, teams filling out their rosters with young, inexperienced pitchers, just as the Rays once did in their Devil days.

Which brings us to the Orioles, the new Rays. The Orioles of 2009 look a lot like the Rays of 2005-2007. Those teams had a lot of offense, and could score runs with power and speed. Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena were part of those teams (as were current Orioles Aubrey Huff and Ty Wigginton). They were just beginning to put that pitching staff together, acquiring Scott Kazmir from the Mets and bringing up James Shields and Andy Sonnenstine, but the bullpen was a mess. That’s how the Orioles are today. They have the offense, but need to bring along the pitching, which they are doing now. Give them a couple of years and Baltimore could be the surprise team of 2011.

Have you heard of Fernando Cabrera? Probably not. He’s the Pawsox closer and has 19 saves, a 1.80 ERA and has struck out 44 in 45 innings. Drafted 10 years ago by the Indians, Cabrera has bounced around the minors for most of his career, getting to the majors for a total of 125 games with Cleveland and Baltimore, all in relief, and an ERA of 5.02. But if the Sox need relievers, and the bullpen continues to wear down, Cabrera might be a possibility as a call up.

Looking ahead, John Smoltz is going to start the first game of the Yankee series, four games that will determine if the 8-0 edge the Sox hold this season is a statistical fluke. Let’s bet that it is.

The schedule the rest of the way is more or less neutral for the three AL East contenders. The Sox have 29 home games and 28 road games left, while the Yankees have 29 home/27 road and the Rays have 28 home/27 road. The Sox are at a disadvantage as far as games against the other two teams. Boston has 17 games left against the Yankees and Rays, but only six at home. New York has 17 games against the other two, but with 11 at home. Tampa Bay only has 14 games against the others, with seven each home and away.

Road Trip - Citi Field, New York

Scroll down the right-hand column and click on the Citi Field slide show.

New York has had many classic ballparks over the years: the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, Shea Stadium, the House that Ruth Built, and its successor, the House that Greed and Self-importance Built. And Citi Field, the new home of the New York Mets, deserves to be at the top of that list.

Citi Field is a ballpark, not a stadium. It’s got nooks, crannies and angles like ballparks are supposed to have. Sure, some say that the new retro ballparks have contrived angles, but that is what a ballpark is supposed to be. But the comparison to Camden Yards and Citizens Bank Park ends there. Citi Field plays big. In that respect it’s more like Detroit. There were two triples in the game we attended, and a couple of doubles that found the gaps. But there were also at least three fly balls that were caught easily that might have been home runs elsewhere. Those big dimensions and high walls (up to 16 feet in some places) have pretty much stifled the Mets’ David Wright, who averaged 29 home runs a year playing in Shea, but has only seven this season.

My friends and I were sitting in the “Promenade” section, which is a euphemism for the upper deck. But even though we were pretty high up, sitting in section 520, we never felt disconnected from the action. It’s a fairly intimate place. But, coming from Fenway, you have to get used to looking down on fly balls. The Promenade concourse has everything you could want right near your seat, with an amazin’ (that’s a Mets word) array of food from hot dogs to pizza to sandwiches, all with relatively short lines. And there’s even more food on the lower concourse as well.

We got there early to have a chance to explore the ballpark and began with the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, a tribute to the baseball immortal. There are quotes from him, two video boards showing highlights and a large statue of the number 42 that draws a steady stream of people having their picture taken.

Walking around the field level there is the largest collection of food I have ever seen in a ballpark or stadium. Kosher food stands, gourmet burgers, a deli that sells handmade sandwiches, cookies and snacks, and several stands that say “Bottled Beer” on the sign, but have cans of beer in the cooler. A little miscommunication there?

Halfway around the concourse, the rain started and we then had lots of time to wait during a 2½ hour delay. Almost all of the seats are uncovered, so people took to sitting on the floor of the concourses or on stairways to wait out the rain. We found out there are a lot of areas of the ballpark that regular people like us can’t even come near. There are private clubs all over the place for the corporate crowd, who can wait out the rain delay on chairs rather than on the floor.

But once the game did start, Citi Field is a great place to be. The seats are comfortable (remember, I’m used to Fenway) and there’s an open feel despite the park being fully enclosed. The two video boards, right next to each other in center and right-center, are informative without trying to throw too much information at you, but why do they show replays on both boards at the same time? It’s like watching replays through a View Master. The sound system is not great, it’s a bit soft, but you can hear the announcements pretty well. The out-of-town scoreboard shows all the games at once, sort of a rarity today, and we were able to follow the Sox game quite well as the numbers went up and up in their 18-10 win.

A couple of things didn’t make sense. First of all, the Mets’ colors are blue and orange, but the seats are green and the walls are black. No blue, no orange, except for the orange foul poles, a tradition from Shea. Secondly, the place looks like Ebbets Field, has a rotunda like Ebbets Field that is a monument to a Dodger great, there is an Ebbets Club, they sell #42 Dodgers uniforms in the team store, and the concession stands sell Brooklyn Burgers. Didn’t New York have another National League team once? I think it was called the Giants, and they played at the Polo Grounds. How come the Brooklyn part is played up so much but there is no mention of the other team or their ballpark (where the Mets once played)?

And a word about Mets fans. They seem remarkably composed and sane at this point in the season as their team called in a lackluster 5-2 loss to Arizona. Sox fans would be booing or getting ready to jump off the Tobin Bridge by now. Maybe they’re so happy with the ballpark they’ve forgiven the team for going down the tubes.